Colombia Grants Occidental Unit
License to Drill Near Indian Land

Dow Jones Newswires

Updated Sept. 22, 1999 12:43 a.m. ET

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia's environmental ministry Tuesday cleared a unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp. to begin exploratory drilling at a site in its northeast Samore block, located just outside of the U'wa Indian nation.

Occidental had applied for the license to begin drilling at the Gibraltar site more than a year ago, but was opposed by...